Our Fitness Blog

9Round and the Marine Corps

Last year, CEO, Shannon “the Cannon” and I had the opportunity to visit the Marine Corps Training Depot at Parris Island, SC. Thanks to one of our amazing members, Colonel John Valintin, we were able to get a candid behind the scenes look at how Marines are trained.

Of Course, being in the fitness industry, we particularly wanted to observe the physical training, as well as the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. We wanted to see the structure and format used to instill motivation and success into the young men and women who were the newest Marine Recruits.
In 2002 during my time as an Army PFC at Fort Benning, GA; I had the opportunity to see the motivational techniques from the recruit side. It wasn’t until my trip to Parris Island that I truly understood the method behind the madness.

Shannon and I got to see every aspect of the training, from intake procedures to drill and ceremony, to swim qualifications. We even got to take our turn running the Crucible obstacle course. What was interesting to see was how differently every situation was handled. We obviously saw the in your face yelling and screaming that you would expect to see. We also got to see the one on one instruction and mentoring side. This somewhat reminded me of the different methods that are sometimes used to motivate our members.We were able to see how structured every moment of training is, even when it looked like chaos.

Now, Shannon and I were not just there as tourists. We were there to learn and to see how we could implement some of the things we observed into 9Round. We wanted to take what we learned from the world’s most elite fighting force, and help to build the most elite fitness center.

This trip and Colonel Valintin in particular, really helped us to shape a large part of the 9Round structure. This was an essential part of creating the 9Round Mission Statement and Core Values that you will see hanging in all of our 9Round locations. This trip was also essential in providing parts of our training qualifications for new franchisees and trainers, such as the physical fitness test. This test is basically a variation of the Army and Marine Corps PT test. We want to make sure that our members nationwide are provided with the best trainers possible.

At 9Round, we know the value of our Armed forces and appreciate the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis. Shannon and I were honored to be guests of the Marine Corps and are proud to have been able to incorporate some of their techniques into 9Round.

Drew Brashier has been involved with 9Round in nearly every capacity of the company. He has been a member, trainer, owning partner of a franchise location, and now serves as a corporate officer as the Director of Operational Support.